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Greenberg talks PS3 online versus Xbox Live
Gamespot sat down with Xbox Live's Aaron Greenberg to talk about Sony's PS3 online service. As expected, he trashes the service, claiming that it's a "knockoff.""... we're flattered that we've created a service that is breeding yet another knockoff. That said, it's still hard to comment in much depth around their online announcement since there are still a lot of details that haven't been made clear and there are a lot of unanswered questions. Is this a fully connected service with one identity across your entire gameplay experience? Is every game online with voice chat integration? Do they have Achievements and Gamerscore? How are they handling safety, security, hacking, viruses, and parental controls?"Also on par with most executive interviews, Greenberg manages to answer questions without really answering them, but that's expected. When asked about whether or not Xbox Live Arcade will reach 50 titles this year, as planned, he sounds a little uncertain,"We have 33 titles on the service today with many more great games to come. I don't have the final projection for how many Arcade titles will be available by December 30, but I know each and every one will offer a great gaming experience for all kinds of gamers."Other topics touched on included web browsing and a possible Marketplace overhaul for the fall update. On the subject of web browsing, Greenberg picks up Microsoft's new party line: reminding us how much WebTV sucked. "There have been a lot of different product offerings like this over the years--even our own WebTV, which we brought out 10 years ago--and none of these products have had much consumer appeal and adoption."Of course, he fails to mention that Microsoft didn't actually create WebTV -- they bought it -- but we digress. When asked about the fall update and whether or not Marketplace would be cleaned up, Greenberg responded,"As you know, we continually listen to customers and work to evolve the service in response. There are some changes planned for Marketplace this fall, but at this point we are not able to talk about any details. Stay tuned."So there you have it, expect definite changes coming to Marketplace this fall. What upgrades would you like to see on Marketplace? What changes would you make?[Via Eurogamer]
